posted October 11, 2014 10:31 PM            

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realization that it wasn't America I hated...

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hah I felt similarly about my home country after spending some time aboard. Out of the hot pot and into the frying pan.

That sums up my occasional angst during my teenage years. As the angst died out, came acceptance - "It is what it is". But still, it is the major cause of my urges to go from one place to another. Forming serious attachments means that I won't be able to just get up and go.

About languages... My s.o feels that when people speak to him in our mother tongue, they speak to his heart and when they speak to him in other languages, they only speak to his brain. I used to think that I felt somewhat similar. Not anymore. I realize that I use the mother tongue mostly because it's convenient. I guess it's because of a lack of love and attachment for my country.

Now the main reason why I don't "love" my country is because I disagree with the ruling political party. The other day I've just talked to my cousin about this. She understands. We feel a vague sentiment for the "home land" itself, but it's confusing because we don't know our home land without the influence of communism. In our mind those two are inseparable. Older people (like my father for example), who have lived in a different era *can* distinguish between the two and it's less confusing for them.

Rofl I gotta stop ranting before it opens a whole new can of worms.

posted October 12, 2014 12:31 AM            

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Originally posted by Faith:
Hope you aren't offended by the Bill Cosby rant...I was just kidding with it

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posted October 12, 2014 01:01 AM            

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Originally posted by Faith:
South Park is crazy

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It's very hit or miss for me. If you've never seen it then I'd recommend that you start with the movie...you'll miss some of the humor but I think you'll still find it fun (if you can handle the rampant profanity and fart songs, and one scene is so intentionally gory that I still haven't watched it all with open eyes to this day), and I think you'll appreciate the political humor. Keep in mind that it's NOT politically correct (though neither is it bigoted or anything like that) and by watching it you're agreeing to be trolled (because at some point they WILL get to you, though part of what makes the show funny is imagining how others are reacting to it).

I very rarely watch it now but a couple of eps I recall watching that I liked in the last couple of years is The Ring (makes fun of Disney as well as the fad of purity rings) and Dances with Smurfs (makes fun of Fox News, particularly Glenn Beck, as well as the movie Avatar). Both were brilliant, IMO, and hilarious, though it helps if you're at least somewhat familiar with what they're making fun of. Both of these are in season 13. There was also Black Friday which mocks (among other things) not only Black Friday (including capitalism in general) but also Game of Thrones which made the show even more explicit than usual.

The very first ep I saw (back in 1998) was Clubhouses which featured parental divorce...and having to put up with a horrible divorce myself I very much appreciated it, as did my friends. It was both funny to us (at least for me it was much funnier when I was a teen) and also said "you're not crazy, the adult world is crazy and filled with hypocritical idiots" which was comforting to know that we weren't imagining how terrible it all was as many adults tried to make us think we were (and that the adults were spouting more BS when they said it was music making us disrespectful rather than their own hypocrisy and BS, and SP was telling us "you're right, it's messed up").

But to me, Nostalgia Critic explains why South Park is so good (and gives some samples):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czPG9kgwyk0

posted October 13, 2014 08:08 AM            

Thanks for your reply.

Little anecdote about languages:

I was talking to my son's hairdresser who is Armenian, and she complained that English doesn't have words for certain feelings...she said there is an Armenian word that loosely translates as "heart" in English, ie "Don't lose heart"...but it's much more than that. She says Americans need more of whatever this heart word is...but we don't have a word for it and don't even realize it's missing.

So that's what I think of...how your values might get lost in translation, as one language pays homage to those values and another language doesn't even have words for them.

And as for the ruling political parties...whatever struggles I had with being an American in my teen years and early 20's were nothing compared to the angst I feel about the neoconservatives taking charge and adopting a platform of endless, preemptive war. Future generations will hopefully see it for what it is, but for now...too many people around me are brainwashed and coldhearted about war. I've felt like cutting off certain friends because I can't bear to listen to their political views, and I hate that my own rhetoric falls on completely deaf ears.

posted October 13, 2014 08:15 AM            

Thanks for the comprehensive intro to South Park! I will check your link when I'm in the mood to laugh again...it's kind of a glum morning here.

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
Both were brilliant, IMO, and hilarious, though it helps if you're at least somewhat familiar with what they're making fun of.

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Right-- I've never seen Avatar or Game of Thrones and as you may know I don't even have a TV so some of the content might be lost on me.

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
The very first ep I saw (back in 1998) was Clubhouses which featured parental divorce...and having to put up with a horrible divorce myself I very much appreciated it, as did my friends. It was both funny to us (at least for me it was much funnier when I was a teen) and also said "you're not crazy, the adult world is crazy and filled with hypocritical idiots" which was comforting to know that we weren't imagining how terrible it all was as many adults tried to make us think we were (and that the adults were spouting more BS when they said it was music making us disrespectful rather than their own hypocrisy and BS, and SP was telling us "you're right, it's messed up").

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Glad it helped.

I was just thinking about this the other day....how there's a lot of good stuff on TV, and it can inspire and comfort people. Sometimes when we're being "couch potatoes" (or in my case, watching YouTube videos) we are doing something important.

Like, Norman Cousins...author of the famous book Anatomy of an Illness...cured himself of an incurable disease with the help of comedy shows.

Also I'm reminded of this:

posted November 15, 2014 02:01 AM              

It can even be good. I never understood why foreigners choose to live here. I kinda do now.

Oh and btw - here's a cute pro-national commercial lol. It's an Aquarian country, so a little odd and surprising.